You are well advised to be suspicious of Jim Ochowicz. I first met him in 1978 when he was competing in the Red Zinger stage race in Colorado and I was the chief timer. There was a particularly difficult stage from Aspen to Vail over Independence Pass where Ochowicz apparently finished third. Trouble was, he had come off the back of the main field and was never seen again until he crossed the the finish line well ahead of the field! He got caught that time but probably didn’t learn from it.